What Binds Our Bonds
by Sibrael
Summary: "You were on a mission. Do you remember?". I shook my head. "You, Naruto, Yamato and I were on a mission to capture Sasuke." I frowned brushing my pink locks out of the way. "Who's Sasuke?"
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: Naruto belong to Masashi Kishimoto**

Intermittent beeping and the occasional turn of a page filled the still silence of the room. An open window provided a cool breeze but little warmth as the sun began to set, signifying the end of another day. I frowned. It had been four days now, they should have woken up already. I reluctantly pulled my gaze from my book and surveyed the room, my eyes lingering on two individuals in hospital beds, slowly breathing in and out. It was a little unnerving. I was used to seeing Naruto acting boisterous and lively and Sakura tending the injured, not being the injured tended to. Even though Naruto had been the most seriously hurt it had been expected that he would at the very least be awake by now and none of Sakura's physical injuries explained her current unconsciousness.

I couldn't help but wonder once again if I should have done anything differently on the mission. I felt I should have been there during their confrontation but I had my own ninja to fight and could not get there in time. Another part of me wonders if it would have made any difference at all.

A slight change in breathing caught my attention. With a few twitches and a change in position Sakura opened her eyes. She hadn't yet noticed me and had begun taking in her surroundings. I saw recognition in her eyes as she recognized her surroundings and then confusion as they landed on me. She hoisted herself up a bit.

"What happened? How did I end up in the hospital?"

"You were on a mission. Do you remember?"

Her brows furrowed thoughtfully and she shook her head.

I slowly exhaled a breath I hadn't realised I'd been holding. I'd had enough trouble trying to figure out what to say about the mission before finding out I had to remind her of what happened. I knew this wasn't going to be pretty. "You, Naruto, Yamato and I were on a mission to capture Sasuke."

"Who's Sasuke?"

I had expected tears, frustration, anger or sadness. Her calm query was the last response I'd expected. Not knowing how to respond I reached over and pressed the call button for the nurse and then I just sat there. Maybe she'd taken a blow to the head I hadn't known about. Sakura began to look irritated that I hadn't answered her question. Not long after that a nurse came in.

"Get Tsunade" was all I said before the nurse hurried off. I don't know what she saw in my face or eyes but hospital staff usually merely tolerate me, not hurry off to do my bidding.

"Kakashi-sensei?"

I glanced back in her direction and gave her a scrutinizing look. How could she remember my name and not his? The door opened and to my relief in walked the Hokage.

"Ah, Sakura. It's good to see you're up. How are you feeling?" I could feel the double meaning a mile away, yet it appeared Sakura didn't.

"A little sore and thirsty but that's it."

Tsunade seemed to wait for her to add to that and then sent a questioning look m way.

"What happened? How did Naruto and I end up in hospital?"

"Your team was on another mission to capture Sasuke in Sound. You and Naruto got separated from Kakashi and Yamato and when they caught up with you again you were both unconscious and Sasuke was leaving. We were hoping you could tell us."

Sakura shook her head. "I don't remember what happened... Sishou who's Sasuke?"

"She said the same thing to me," I said when Tsunade glanced in my direction.

"… Sakura in a moment I'm going to get you to perform some tests. Do you feel dizzy or nauseous? Do you have a headache?"

Sakura frowned. "No, why? And why won't you tell me anything?" she said starting to sound upset.

* * *

Tests and intensive questioning revealed that apart from a lack of memories or knowledge regarding Sasuke, Sakura had no other symptoms. Apparently she was under the belief that until the recent addition of Sai, our team had only ever consisted of two genins due to the number of graduates that year not being devisable by 3.

"I can't see any signs of head trauma. My best guess is that this is due to the emotional trauma of not getting Sasuke back again and is an extreme form of a coping mechanism."

I didn't know how to respond to that. "So…," I trailed off to be saved by the door opening. In walked a nurse.

"Naruto Uzumaki has also awakened… He also has no memory of Uchiha Sasuke."

* * *

"After my examination it appears Naruto has the same symptoms as Sakura. Two teammates sounds like a jutsu not trauma," Tsunade mused. "I'll get Inoichi to have a look at Sakura and Naruto and see what that tells us. I'd like to know how thorough this jutsu was and what else was affected. Any ideas on what he was thinking?"

"I think we should avoid making assumptions until we have Inoichi's assessment. This could be Orochimaru's work for all we know." In truth I really just didn't want to think about it. I'd never known Sasuke to enjoy fucking with people's minds but after spending time with Orochimaru that could have changed for all I knew.

* * *

"Hey Naruto, what do you think is going on?"

"What do you mean Sakura-chan?"

"Such as all the tests and how people are acting."

"We just got a hit to the head is all and they're just making sure that we're okay," Naruto dismissed.

I frowned. "No it's more than that. They're not telling us something. They aren't even allowing us visitors. They're hiding something from us," she insisted.

"That's just because we just woke up. They'll let us have some when we are feeling better."

Somehow I found Naruto's attempt to reassure me made me feel more alarmed. "We've been allowed visitors when waking before. We're not even very hurt anymore, in fact I've been healed enough that I would normally be discharged by now."

I watched as Naruto's brows faintly creased and I realized that I was getting through to him. "I think you're overreacting, but you're right, I don't see why we aren't being allowed visitors."

"Kakashi-sensei is acting weird too. He started telling me about the mission but then clammed up when I said I didn't remember it."

"What did he say?"

"Just that we were on a mission with him and Yamato to capture some guy called Sasuke."

"That's it?"

"Yeah… You don't think something bad happened do you? I didn't even think to ask sensei about Yamato until he'd already left."

"He's strong, I'll think he'll be okay, but you're right, we should ask Kaka-sensei when he comes back."

The door opened and a tired nurse in. "How are you both feeling?"

"We're fine. Is our teammate Yamato okay?" I was concerned because I didn't know if he wasn't visiting us because he wasn't allowed or because he wasn't able to.

"Your teammate is fine. Seeing as how you are both feeling well you'll be having a visitor soon to speak with you." Seeing Naruto and I shift our eyes to behind her shoulder she turned. "Speak of the devil here he is."

"Hi Mr Yamanaka," I nodded.

Assessing the room, the jonin strode in with a faint smile on his lips. "Hello Sakura, Ino sends her regards. Now do you both know why I'm here?"

I frowned feeling my forehead crease. "I'm guessing it's because Naruto and I can't remember our last mission although we seem to have no apparent head trauma."

"That's right. We suspect a mental jutsu was cast on the both of you and I'm here to try to determine the extent of the amnesia, who performed the jutsu and if there have been any other alternations to your mind. Now it's easier for me to do this if you're unconscious so Amiata here," he said gesturing to the nurse "is going to be giving you a sedative."

I watched him finish with a smile. It reminded me of speaking to my patients and let me know that although he meant nothing but the best for us, the sedative was in no way optional. "Very well then," I said holding out my arm "see you on the other side Naruto."

* * *

Somehow the pregnant silence seemed to be gaining weight as Yamato, Tsunade and I stiffly sat in the waiting are. None of us really knew what to say and didn't want to discuss the situation yet anyway. They had been in there a long time. As a general rule needing to visit the basement of the headquarters of Konoha's Intelligence for anything beyond delivering a message was a bad situation. Needing to visit because someone had fucked with half your team members' memories and may have also implanted false memories or imbedded commands is a breath away from your year heading a long way south very fast. Neither of them were the kind of people I'd want to have to hand over to the deprogrammers. But I would do it all the same if it meant I could get them back the way they were. Then again no one really ever comes back completely the same after visiting the deprogrammers. They were thorough with good reason and they did their job well, but well… they were thorough…

The door opened and I raised my head expectantly, dropping all pretence of reading my book. Inoichi strode in giving nothing away in his face. "I've given them both a thorough look and I can't detect any alterations to their minds except for the amnesia." We all relaxed while somehow remained tense, bracing ourselves for the possible bad news that would follow. "As far as I can determine the amnesia is selective to Sasuke Uchiha only and includes all things regarding Sasuke Uchiha. From looking through their minds alone, you'd never know he existed. You can tell something is missing and that the cause is a jutsu and not natural, but that is the extent of it."

"Can you undo what has been done?" Tsunade queried.

"At the moment no. This isn't a jutsu I've seen before although some aspects of it are similar to others I've encountered. I believe that given enough time, I will be able to remove the jutsu but certainly not within the month or possibly even the next few months.

"Any idea on who cast the jutsu?" I waited as Inoichi paused reflectively; I felt agitated not knowing what was going on. Memory erasing jutsu isn't the way most fights end. To say I hadn't been expecting this form of the unexpected would be an understatement.

"After looking at Anko's mind, this doesn't feel like the work of Orochimaru"

"So you think Sasuke did it," I stated.

"Kabuto's another possibility too as there was a period of the fight where I lost track of him." Yamato didn't seem happy with the idea he presented and I didn't blame him. I still hadn't forgotten the outcome of the last time I went up against him.

"It is a possibility that this is his work and that there may be more affected areas than what I've been able to see. However, this work appears to lack a subtlety that I'd expect from Kabuto. Instead it seems to be powered by a single mindedness that makes me lean to the idea of it being Sasuke's."

_Sasuke_… I pondered the idea for a moment. Was he really that desperate to stay away from here or was it more to do with him not wanting those two to follow him? Or was it something else altogether. Not for the first time I'd really love to know what was going through that boy's head.


	2. Chapter 2

Fuck Thursdays. I gently prodded and turned over the small brown object with my fork. It was sweet and sour mystery meat again. I'd think it was the results of one of Orochimaru's experiments were it not for the fact that I knew Boruk worked on Thursdays. A less than happy patron had beheaded the last chef when he found a severed finger in his sandwhich. Sadly one of the new chefs did not reach the former's bar on presentation or taste, even if he did have better hygiene practices. At least he always cooked the meat enough. On the weekend you half expected your chicken to walk off the table. Where once I would train hard all day and eat dinner without really tasting anything on autopilot, dinner had become if not enjoyable or interesting then it had become noteworthy. Whereas the Sound ninjas usually just talked to those they were close to with eyes darting around during meals, now they would sometimes talk to the person next to them to complain about the food or argue what food group it belonged to. It was one of the rare things that seemed to bring together the phycopaths, sociopaths and the abused under Orochimaru's rule. I absentmindedly wondered how long it would last.

I prodded the meat again. It was meat wasn't it? I briefly wondered if perhaps Orochimaru hired him on purpose to better hide any drugs my meal was spiked with. Because some of them were drugged, Kabuto had admitted as much. I would have eaten it anyway. After all I was here to get stronger; although there was this one period of three months where I refused to eat tomatos because every time I did I found it hard to think straight. I still hadn't forgiven the bastard.

I endured the rest of the meal and then headed back to my room ignoring everyone on the way. Opening my door, I tossed my jacket on the floor and lay back on my bed thinking. Naruto and Sakura should be awake now. I wondered what everyone else would do when they realized they could no longer remember me.

* * *

"Out of the question."

I rubbed my forehead trying to easy away the tension. It wasn't working so I sent a quick pulse of healing chakra to my temples instead. "We have no right to keep this information from them."

"Of course we do. Close to you they may be, but they are still ninja to be wielded for the best interests of the village." Homaru leaned back in his chair, clearly willing to turn this into a battle of wills as to who was prepared to sit in this stuffy room and argue their point the longest. Of course he would, he had nothing better to do with his time while I had responsibilities outside of these ridiculous meetings like running the village and the hospital.

"They're people too. Treating others as less than human is exactly the kind of thinking that lead Orochimaru where he is today. If it weren't for him we wouldn't even be in this mess."

"Orochimaru isn't the only one to blame. If the Third's actions hadn't been coloured by blind favouritism and an unwillingness to acknowledge what was right in front of him that traitor would have been dead long ago and this village spared a lot of grief," Koharu declared.

There was some truth to her words I couldn't deny that. I had never forgotten my genin team or how my sensei had always put all his eggs in one basket. But I was not my sensei, Sakura was not me, Naruto was not Jiriaya and Sasuke was not Orochimaru. Nor would we ever be.

"Even if I agreed with you that they are important as individuals. Can you honestly tell me without hesitation that continuing to chase after the Uchiha is in Team 7's best interests? Due to the nature of their training so far neither of them have completed nearly as many missions as their peers. They lack field experience" Koharu persisted.

She was right. Their hearts were in it but the mental strain would wear them down in the long run. I'd treated enough ninjas to know that they would burn out. Frankly they could use a break. For the moment there was no new information in regards to Orochimaru and his location and other teams could just as easily be sent to look for clues. "Very well. For the moment Sakura and Naruto will be kept oblivious about their teammate however, when news on Sasuke or Orochimaru comes in, particularly information we can act on, they will be informed of their real circumstances."

The Elders almost appeared glad I'd relented not that they ever looked glad. The closest I remembered ever getting out of them was a more brisk clippity clop out of them as they traipsed down my halls with their walking sticks sounding like some misshapen creature in loss of a leg. I got the impression they wished this secret would be kept from them forever though how they thought that could realistically happen was beyond me. I sighed. I'd been forced into a compromise with the idiots once again. Their stonewalling me on important issues and going behind my back was seriously hindering my ability to work effectively. Sensei may have put up with them out of friendship and old memories long beyond their ability to work as an effective council, but I had no such sentiments to cloud my vision. Frankly I needed to get rid of them and replace them with my own council. However, to do that I would need to get rid of Danzo first. Danzo may not enjoy sharing power but he put up with these two because they had more of his militaristic leanings than anyone I would replace them with. Unfortunately the bastard seemed determined to outlive us all and was doing a rather good job of it so far.

I watched the elders walk out of my office and stared at the wall contemplating the situation. After much scrutiny of my own thoughts I called for Shizune to send me Shikaku Nara. I waited wondering how soon the consequences of my decision would become apparent. When he arrived in my office it took me a while to meet his eyes and acknowledge him, but when I did I knew I was making the right move regardless of whether it would win me the game in the long run.

"Shikaku, I need you to find any dirt on Danzo, Homaru and Koharu that you can. We need to replace the Council."


End file.
